


The Pines Parents

by Corny_Tyrannosaurus



Series: Love Reel [3]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Consanguinamory, Drama, F/M, Family Drama, References to Monsterverse, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21619393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corny_Tyrannosaurus/pseuds/Corny_Tyrannosaurus
Summary: Aaron and Ann’s emotional road across the relationship of their beloved children.
Relationships: Aaron Pines/Ann Pines, Dipper Pines/Mabel Pines
Series: Love Reel [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549117
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Awkwardness

The soft scent of morning coffee forced his eyes to open at last. He didn’t want to rise from bed; he really, reaaally didn’t want to rise from bed. But the work was needed, and he was sure it was his wife who made the coffee with the only purpose of cheer him up a little.

_Man, I am an utter Drama Queen. Nothing is – No no no no, say it seriously, come on…_

He passed his hands across his face, and arose his heavy body from bed, the blankets falling out from him as much as he wanted his worries to disappear.

_Come on Man, I don’t hear you._

He sat over the border of his bed, looking for his blue slippers with his eyes. He smiled; they were just in front of him.

_The more you delay to say it, the more it will hit you. Come on!_

He slipped his feet inside the slippers, and finally stood over the ground. First thing in the daily list? Take a relieving shower. He walked thru the door, and across the corridor that separated their room from the rest of the house. In the middle, he saw how the pinkish creature whose they were forced to live with by his daughter, looked at him from his comfortable bed, and oinked at his surrogated granddad in a way he could acknowledge he was greeting.

“Good morning, Waddles” He said, raising his hand. Immediately, the pig arose from his smooth bed, shook his chubby body, and walked towards the living room, where his breakfast surely was ready.

_Say it… Say it!!_

He walked towards the door of the first floor’s bathroom, urging his body to maroon its mantle of tiredness. The feeling of handle the door’s latch felt almost like win a race; this morning it seemed like he could forget his problems that were not problems at all…

_Oh right; I’ll say it. Nothing bad is…_

… Until he opened the door.

_… HAPPENING!!_

There were his two children, in their respective towels, sharing a tender kiss. At the moment they felt the shocked look of his father, they unmade the kiss and turned their embarrassed heads to look at him. What was worse, his shocked eyes or the half-serious-half-utterly-blushed faces of his children, was hard to say. But almost immediately after, they began to stammer in shame, and holding hands, one followed the other out of the bathroom, greeting at his father with lowered heads as they escaped through the tiny space between their father and the doorframe.

_Kill me please._

The attack of the Memomorph had two important consequences for the Pines home. First, it had showed Aaron Pines and his beloved wife Ann a brand new world of beautiful and mad and incredible things. Second, it had left the second’s floor bathroom and Dipper’s room damaged beyond their immediate use, so now they had to share the bathroom of the first floor with their children. For the sake of the schedule, the had decided to share their morning showers so everyone could be ready the enough early to counteract the lack of the second floor’s bathroom. And that implied the risk of caught them in not necessarily watchable romantic activities. This morning, Aaron Pines had been lucky, very, very lucky.

_Why the f*ck I didn’t fixed the door’s latch when I could??!!_

The shower finished at its due time (and not the enough to take from him all his tiredness), so he quickly went back to his room to put his clothes on, make himself the most presentable possible, and walk to the kitchen for the breakfast. Immediately, he caught their children’s casual but slightly ashamed smiles, and he returned the smile as well.

_They’re trying their best, they’re trying their best, they’re tryyyyyying their best…_

“Hi, Dad!” Both twins said at the same time.

“Hi, kids” Aaron said back, sitting in his chair.

“Good morning, sweetie” Ann said, putting a coffee cup in front of him and stealing him a fast, passionate kiss. She always knew how to cheer him up (and how to make the best social stalemates).

“Moom!” Mabel jokingly said, smiling at the happy couple.

“You two deserved that for what your poor father had to endure, you know it” Ann replied with a playful smile, sitting along her husband.

“Oh right, we shut up” Mabel replied with humor, taking a sip of juice. Mabel and Ann had for much, the best part of the family’s strange situation.

“Well, tell me then Dipper, some good news today?” Aaron asked his son, taking the newspaper to read.

“Oh yeah. Aiden was selected to make the graduation’s speech and he asked me to help him with that. He’s very amused with the chance” Dipper said quickly “and the yearbook’s going to be delivered today”

“Mhm good, good; I already want to see it” Aaron replied, with his best effort to pretend to be amused (A really bad one).

“Ooooooorgh I want to see that yearbook Dipstick! Our matching photos will stay for the future generations” Mabel said enthusiastically, taking his brother from the shoulders and squishing him merrily.

“Hell you had to see me how I had to convince Ellen to leave them in that way” Dipper replied, impregnated with the enthusiasm. “A true art piece” He exclaimed with pride.

“Does she still angry for the bike’s matter?” Ann asked.

“Weeeeell let’s say she doesn’ lose the chance of tackle me when she sees me” Mabel replied with a nervous smile, untangling herself from her brother. “But I comprehend her. Not everyday you have to walk home from the prom”

“The teens of this times, dear. I inquire it’s time for her to let that go” Ann replied with a supportive tone, eating her eggs.

“So Dipper, had you talked with your grunkles? The situation here looks pretty serious” Aaron said, not quitting the newspaper from his face. The big letters of the day’s exclusive read ‘ _PIEDMONT’S FINGERBEAST ATTACKS AGAIN; TWO CARS DESTROYED’._ “Here says they sent Monarch’s operatives to investigate the situation” He inquired.

“Weell, Grunkle Ford says they already sealed the dimensional rip from which the Memomorph came through, but he says that no rip had opened here in California. It’s.. strange”

“Oh well, I just asked. You know; there’s the chance our incident could draw some unwanted attention” Aaron inquired, letting the newspaper aside him.

“Dad, it’s safe; most probable the Fingerbeast has nothing to do with the incidents. Grunkle Ford says that Earth is dimensionally a weak spot, for some reason” Dipper reassured with some seriousness. Things between them had turned unexpectedly harsh lately, and the fact that the mysterious FIngerbeast had destroyed one of his work partner’s car, Aaron was particularly tense with all the possibilities.

“Aaaaand Time flies!” Mabel interrupted, raising from her chair with the plate between her hands. “Come on, bro-friend, you promised to aid Aiden early” Mabel inquired.

“Damn I forgot it! That’s true” Dipper inquired, practically swallowing the rest of his breakfast whole and raising from his chair as well. “We have to go, Bye Dad, bye Mom!” Dipper said, disappearing from sight along his sister.

“Have a good day, sweeties!” Ann inquired.

“ByyyyE!” Mabel yelled from distance. A few moments later, they heard Dipper’s van turning on and going far. Ann looked at his husband with a judgmental glance, but worried at the same time.

“You won’t get anything pressuring him like that” She said with solemn tune.

“He knows what he must do. This could go out of hands very quickly” He inquired, not losing his temper.

“Love, talk with him, please” Ann inquired, putting one hand over the one of her husband which was over the kitchen’s table.

“And I assume you already talked with them” Aaron asked in disbelief.

“Yes, I did” Ann replied with growing concern. “Aaron, this particular situation puts things over the table. If we don’t talk with them they could begin to hide us things again” She inquired.

“Do you think they don’t trust us the enough?” Aaron asked, still in disbelief.

“Do you think you make things easier for them?” She replied with growing sternness.

“Hey, I practically caught them making out in the bathroom and I didn’t say anything. I really couldn’t try it harder” He said, a little upset.

“Love, don’t think I don’t notice it. And they notice it. They could begin to think you changed your mind” Ann inquired. Aaron remained silent and looked away. The due time had passed away for Dipper to find a near college, and as much as Aaron tried to ignore it, Dipper had grown a little sensible for that. “Tolerance is not the same as Acceptance. As much as he knows, he believes you want them to move on when they get far”

“…would that be so bad?” He asked in low voice.

“It is not our decision. And as much as I know, what they have is the enough strong to endure for life; we’ll have to begin to accept how far they will go with that, and the easiest way is to begin… with you” Ann inquired with a merrier aim. “Please, talk with him”. Aaron looked at his wife with an apologetic glance, and sighed.

“Ok, I’ll try it” He accepted in defeat.

“That’s my best hunt” She replied merrily, giving him a fast kiss.

“Sometimes I’d like to be hanging on the wall, Sweetie” He replied.

_Oh my dear… Please hang me on the wall!_


	2. Sorrows

_“… Hi” Ann said, a quite confused._

_“Hi” Her voice told back, with a distinguishable tune of regret._

_“Who are you?” Ann asked._

_“It.. it is that important?” The voice questioned._

_“Well, you’re wearing my voice. I would inquire it” Ann replied with suspicious._

_“Certainly I wear your voice, but it is my voice too” The voice replied, and whose was wearing it made herself visible._

_“Why the cloak?” Ann asked._

_“I like it. It keeps me warm. Besides… I’ve traveled from a very far place, there are some things in the way I’m very interested for them to not notice me” The woman in the cloak said back._

_“Well; welcome. Please, take sit. I guess you’re thirsty” Ann said gently, making a water glass to appear in her hand._

_“Thank you” The woman in the cloak said with deep respect. She took off the part of the cloak that covered her face, and drank the whole content, to just after put the entire cup in her mouth and munching it. “Ahh, I missed it”_

_“How – how far you come from?” Ann asked. The woman was wearing her same face as well._

_“Have you ever heard that if you walk the enough far, you end where you began?” The woman asked._

_“Yes” Ann answered, still suspicious._

_“Well, if you walk too far, maybe that place just looks like where you began, but it isn’t” The woman said. “Luckily, I remember how to go back” She said with a better aim, sitting over a dusty floor that suddenly appeared from the darkness._

_“I get it” Ann said. “Why are you here?”_

_“I need an advice” The woman said in a humble tone, hitting her knees with her hands._

_“An advice?” Ann asked. “Why from me?”_

_“You have my same problem” the woman answered, looking at her._

_“I - I don’t have a problem” Ann said, frowning in confusion. The woman in the cloak smiled and chuckled briefly._

_“I know. You wouldn’t call it a problem. But between us, I am a darker you. You can infer for yourself what I am talking about” the woman in the clock answered with certain malice._

_“.. Oh, that” Ann said. “You see my weakness with this; why to ask me for advice?”_

_“I – “ The woman tried to say, stopping for a moment. There were so many things that she couldn’t say to her. “Between us, I feel you’re stronger than I am with this. I’d like to hear how do you do it”_

_“Well, I would begin with sitting in a better place” Ann said. Before the woman in cloak could give account, both were sitting on a park wooden bank. The woman in cloak smiled at her sister with a proud glance._

_“You learn fast” The woman in the cloak said._

_“We’re in me. Is not that hard. Besides, I like this bank. A friend showed me once; I go to think there every often. It’s funny” Ann said, gasping a chuckle “when we coincide he brings the drinks and I the sandwiches. It’s impressive how fast one makes habits”_

_“He must be a very good friend” The woman in the cloak inferred, sensing the warm of such memory._

_“He had spent dealing with our mutual problem more than us. How to not take kindliness to the one who had taken so much care of my babies?” She said with tender tune._

_“I guess you’re right” the woman in cloak said. “Maybe the next time we see again I would bring the bank” she said with content._

_“Deal” Ann said, looking at her comrade. Then she looked at the black emptiness, and sighed. “Well, what is your doubt? It must be a huge thing to have traveled so far”_

_“I… I struggle, for accept it. I try the most I can, but I still feel… uneasy”_

_“It is so bad?” Ann asked._

_“they’re two girls” the woman in the cloak said back, smiling at the nothingness._

_“Woaw, that’s an extra deal of acceptance” Ann answered with a growing smile of irony._

_“And they’re far now. But the next time they’re with us,.. I’d like to give them a better recievement than the one I give them last time” the woman in cloak said with a deep sense of regret. “So… How do you do it?”_

_Ann looked at the vastness of herself, and sighed._

_“Weeeeell my comrade. It is no easy. We held concepts. Not the same ones that prevent us from make the same, but… Sometimes is hard to look at it. You question yourself if some of this is your fault, I you were a good mother, if you taught them the right things… But the true is that Life has its own ways to do things. And no matter what we believe it is right and what is wrong; what is really right is what makes you thrive” Ann said. “If they had found their own way to be happy who are we to judge?” . The woman in the cloak looked at her sister with certain uneasiness, and then looked back to the emptiness._

_“Frankly I’m disappointed. I hoped to hear a different answer” the woman in cloak said with disdain. Ann laughed, finding relief in her words._

_“What else could say? We’re Anns! That’s what we do” Ann said with pride. “You’ll learn, with time. We will learn” She corrected herself. ”As far as I know, we’re not made from or failures. We’re made from the things we learn”_

_“I would have liked to be as strong as you are when I needed to be”_

_“Me? Strong? If you say so” Ann said, gasping a loud laugh._

_“Thank you Ann” the woman in the cloak said._

_“Thank you too, Ann” Ann said back. “You know what? I am soooo thirsty…”_

Ann opened her eyes wide. She was really thirsty. She took off her sleep mask and looked at the clock. It was midnight; recently, the usual uncomfortable time of night to be awake. She looked at her left, glimpsing her snoring husband, with an arm over his head.

She smiled at him.

Slowly, she got off from the bed, putting her slippers, and walked out of their dorm into the corridor. She looked below to avoid to kick Waddles, who was sleeping peacefully. She smiled at him with certain humor.

_Incredibly you snore lower than my husband, pig._

Having dodged Waddles in the way, she was almost out of the corridor into the living room, when she heard some sounds. They sounded like sobs, silent sobs.

_What?_

Changing into her own stealth mode, she walked slowly into the living room; the voices were coming from the kitchen.

_Those are…?_

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t make it” She heard her son, sniffing and in creaked voice.

“It is fine. You did what you could. Besides, the wait will make sweeter the reunion” Ann heard her daughter making her way into the flirting to console her brother.

_Oww, my babies. They’ll be fine Aaron, they’ll be –_

“Are you up for a preview?” Dipper suggested, following her sister’s flirting mode.

“OOooh well, as you said it so nicely, my bro-bro” Mabel said back. Then Ann heard a noisy smooch.

_… Aaaaaaand I’m getting outta here_

Ann moved back to the corridor until she heard their children’s steps going upstairs, and she cautiously slipped to the kitchen, took a water bottle from the shelf and ran back to her room, almost kicking Aaron in her way inside the blankets.

_No better somifacient than a good sip of water_

She drank the entire water bottle, and put her sleep mask back in her face, resting her head on the pillow. Her eyes became heavy, and she drove herself back into herself. That had been weird, but in their own cute way to be weird. Was that relief? Acceptance? Maybe even pride? She didn’t know. But she was happy for them, and that was all she needed to know…


	3. Determination

\- 4:25 PM

_Ok, Aaaron. You can do this, you can do this…_

Aaron went upstairs, tasting every step as he tested every word he planned to say.

_But what I’m gonna tell him?!_

He stood in the corridor, looking at the entrance to Dipper’s room. Due the lack of a door, now he could see the insides. Maybe it was curiosity, or his default father concern, but he went to make a look of his son’s previous bedroom. Everything was now packed in cardboard boxes, and the closet was wrapped in bubble plastic.

_This is… odd._

Aaron could have anticipated it. Dipper didn’t make very much effort to get a new door for his room or to get a new bed, and based on his knowledge of how Dipper anticipated things, such preparation had to be due the moving of state the next months. Now Aaron comprehended what Ann was talking about. He hadn’t been in the second floor for more than two months. Even when they didn’t sleep there, Aaron used to go upstairs to get spare parts for his work, which were stored in the attic; very frequently, in times of day where the twins were at home. So long without go for parts had to meant something for Dipper, and Aaron wasn’t sure anymore if his inquiries were wrong about him.

_My overreacting son…_

“Dad?” He heard his daughter’s voice behind him. Quickly he turned around, trying to pose casually.

“Heeeey there, Mabel” Aaron replied the most casual possible, recharging himself in the doorframe.

_Idiot!!_

“How surprise to see ya here; how’s the first floor going?” Mabel asked, feigning to be casual as bad as her father. For the moment, Aaron could save utter thoughts to a better moment, even when he knew she could be hiding something.

“Oh well, I was looking for a processor in the attic but I guess I’m running out of spare parts” Aaron responded quickly, resisting his urges to scratch his nape.

_Come ooooooooon, think a way to bring the question, Aaron!!_

“Where’s Dipper? I thought he was coming with you” Aaron asked, still in his attepmts to sound casual.

“Oh! He’s on Aiden house helping him with the speech. Nerds’ stuff you know” Mabel said with a strange grin and rolling her eyes everywhere.

“I get it. Soo, tell me dear” Aaron began to say. “I was walking here in the corridor when I noticed Dipper had already packed everything in his room, how surprise!”

_Are you serious?!!!_

“Yeeeah” Mabel began to say. “Well; the monster destroyed his bed so I invited him to my room so –” She said; Aaron was trying the hardest to ignore her daughter’s sudden blushing when she mentioned it “heeee though that he should begin to pack everything from now instead of just rush at the last moment”

_Oh my GOSH what the heck is going on I can’t believe how my f*cking gosh why why why they’re f*******…. AAArghh!!!_

“Oh, I see” Aaron said briefly in a very calmed tune.

There was a long (and very uncomfortable pause) between them, until Mabel rolled her eyes to her room.

“Ooooo ya, Ehmm – I gotta run to my room; Dipper’s coming from Aiden’s house anytime and I must be prepared so…” She began to stammer.

“You two have… A date?” Aaron asked and suddenly Mabel’s nervousness levels went on the roof.

“Yeeeeeah a date!” She exclaimed with enthusiasm “Typical brother-sister-which-also-are-boyfriend-and-girlfriend kinda stuff; nothing unusual” Mabel exclaimed, practically at the edge of hysteria. Aaron could imagine how her urges to hide behind her room’s door were growing, in the way she was curling her hair, as much as his urges to go downstairs. But the bottom of his mind caught something serious in all of it.

_Oh no, Mabel’s uneasy with me too._

“Weeeell; I won’t interrupt you. See ya later, honey” Aaron said, back into his calmed behavior.

“’Kay Dad, see ya later!” Mabel said in her hysteric enthusiasm, walking discretely to her dorm’s entrance. So he began to walk downstairs.

_What. Just. Happened?!!!_

Aaron was halfway downstairs, when he heard the door slamming. How embarrassing was that, he couldn’t begin to describe it.

_I’m just… too tired for this._

Defeated, and utterly tired, Aaron walked to the living room. Luckily, one of the first things they could buy was a TV, and his individual couch had survived the disastrous dinner. So he just sat, grabbed the TV control, and turned it on, recharging in his best attempt to make himself to feel comfortable.

_“… The environmental experts can’t still explain the sudden outburst of vegetation over San Francisco Bay, but the reports indicate that the high doses of radiation aren’t posing a significant threat to the inhabitants, something that had left the experts with more questions than answers…”_

Aaron smiled briefly. At least, what seemed as horrible news weren’t too bad. Maybe that could say to him something…

\- 11:25 PM

Aaron opened his eyes, finding himself still on the couch. A blue blanket was over him, and the TV control was in front of the TV, some feet away.

_Argh, my neck_

Aaron stretched his arms, trying to take his tiredness apart, and raised from the couch, when he heard some noises coming from the kitchen. He walked his way there, and found Ann, making a sandwich.

“Hi, Sweetie” Aaron greeted his wife.

“Hi, Love” Ann said back, giving him a fast kiss. “You want a sandwich?” She offered.

“Sure, why not?” He responded as he sat on a chair, recharging his chin on his fist.

His sleepy eyes looked at the hands of her wife preparing the snack, and a warm grin crossed his face. His mind drove to ponder how fortunate was to having her in his life, how special his luck with her was (he was hit by an Ann’s bullet instead a Cupid’s dart). He pondered if other marriages were so close (A thing he knew was very, veeery rare, for what he knew of his daily life), as his eyes drove to her wife’s. She was just so beautiful at that moment, that he needed to say it.

“I love you” Aaron said quietly. Ann turned to him, having finished his sandwich.

“I love you too” She replied in the same warm aims. They stared each other for a moment, remembering the times in which just they were them, before their children. Then, an idea. Maybe they should go back to a little of that; have a little of time for themselves. If such situation like the one they were living was a matter of a couple, maybe with the couple they could deal with it.

Ann broke the staring to go to the frig and get the milk gallon, serving two cups; one for her and other for him.

“You knew I could wake up” Aaron said, having just noticed she had over the table two plates and two cups since the beginning.

“That’s how well I know you, dear” Ann replied, sitting on a chair along him. “You can still try tomorrow, It’ll be easier” She said, and Aaron caught immediately what she meant to say.

“I was just… so tired. Did you knew they were to have a date?” He asked.

“Yes, they told me yesterday” Ann said. “They’re trying to spend the most time together before Dipper goes. Aiden even suggested we could make our own version of a graduation dance; he’s thinking in invite the cranky girl he’s dating”

“I can imagine it” Aaron replied. A tiny, microscopic dot of guilt was growing in his mind. “So Aiden’s dating someone” He changed the subject.

“Yep, that girl Ellen, from the school press” Ann said, turning a little into her gossip facet.

“Heh, look at us. Talking about teens’ matters” Aaron said with irony, sipping his milk.

“I know, it’s pretty weird” Ann inferred. “But a lot of things had gone pretty weird” She said, as they heard Waddle’s hooves coming to the kitchen. The big pig greeted their surrogated grans with happy oinks, and Ann approached a third sandwich to him. “And I’m glad they came to be in that way”

“Hold on, did you just give a sandwich to the pig?” Aaron inquired with a brief shock.

“It’s our grandchild, Aaron, we have to begin to be more friendly with him” Ann replied with faked indignation.

“Ann, ham is made with pork” Aaron said in stern shock. “You just turned our grandchild into a cannibal”

“Oh hush there unfaithful man, it’s turkey’s ham” Ann dismissed him, as Waddles ate the whole sandwich.

“Oh, what a relief” Aaron answered, putting his cup in the table. But then his eyes widened in disbelief.

_Wait a holy friggin’ second! Did – Did I just feel worry for the pig?!_

“Hah! I gotcha” Ann said in seeming victory “It’s the Grandpa Effect, get used to it” Ann said, rubbing Waddle’s head.

“I reaaally don’t want any other entry of that” Aaron said with a brief tone of shock. Ann remained silent for a moment, and a sudden wave of paranoia ran across his spine. “Do.. do you know something about?” Aaron asked, feeling very worried for the question.

“Ahm? No, it’s nothing” Ann replied, taking a brief sad glance. “It’s just… what if they want to… to make a family?” She asked “I mean, babies and all the deal. I’m almost sure they’ll want to have children if the thing goes in long term”

“They know the consequences” Aaron said, turning into a very much more serious tune.

“And don’t you think that’s unfair?” Ann asked. Aaron distinguished the cracking of her voice, and for a moment, his sandwich felt like a brick in his stomach. “I just think in how we faced your family just to be together; no one needs that. And now I think about them and.. Gosh, I really feel how committed Aiden really is with them” She said in a gasping laugh.

Aaron looked away. A huge part of him was convinced that what was between them was only a matter of closeness they just needed to tolerate as much as it lasted, that they could just move on with the enough distance and thrive in normal lives. But now… he wasn’t sure. Thinking twice, Dipper and Mabel had already been acting like spouses for a while. From the little things of daily routine, to the big decisions; they were willing to do whatever was necessary to make the other to thrive in their own way, implying to have a time apart, or renounce their own happiness. Or, in the most recent example, have the braveness to face them, monster or not.

Suddenly, Waddles turned away, walking towards the front door. Red and blue flashes were visible from the window, and the sound of cars approaching.

“They sound too close” Aaron said, and in an instant, both parents walked towards the door. In middle way they heard four knocks; there was no doubt they had to attend the door. Aaron opened the door, and his worst nightmare received him. In front of a big, intimidating cop there were Dipper and Mabel in swimsuits, hair soaked and covered with towels, looking at them with embarrassed smiles.

_You gotta be kidding me._


	4. Guilt

_I want to die I want to die I want to die…_

“What. The. Hell. Where… youuu… THINKING!?” Aaron yelled, walking from a side of the living room to the another. Ann was standing at the living room’s entrance, not too angry, but serious anyway. “I mean – Seriously, you’re serious with this?! You can’t be serious!”

“Dad, it was all my idea –“ Mabel defended with determination.

“Suuuure! And Dipper was completely glad to follow, I’m right?” Aaron interrupted. “We were lucky this time, the policeman just made a warning; but can you imagine what could had happened if -?! Aaargh!!!” Aaron groaned in frustration.

“We weren’t doing anything we should be worried about. Can’t we just… skip this? We’ll just be more careful the next time” Dipper reassured. The father stopped frantically, glancing at him with utter and quiet exasperation. But their mother turned her head to see him in a very optimistic but serious way.

Actually, Ann liked the idea. Just seeing their glances of shame (more Dipper’s one) made her know that any extra word could be too much. But her husband had other plans.

“Well –“ She was about to say, when she was interrupted.

“The next time? Of course. Because ‘ _why should be a next time’_ isn’t a big deal eh?” Aaron said back. Dipper’s frightened glance said everything. Aaron had already told too much. “Indeed. Why a first time had to happen?!”

Dipper’s eyes opened wide, and a long tear ran wild across his left cheek. Aaron caught immediately what Dipper understood of what he just said, and his regret ran fast.

_No._

“I – Dipper I didn’t” Aaron tried to reassure with him, but Dipper had already make his way running upstairs. They heard the door slamming, and Aaron turned to see his wife and his daughter. Ann was shocked. Mabel had that part-rage-part-utter-heartbrokenness face that Aaron just couldn’t stand a single second.

“Why had you to tell him that?” Mabel asked him “It was all my idea!”. That last part hit him; Mabel had never raised her voice to him before, and less with such stance that was saying him that effectively, she was willing to argue with him. Much for his surprise, Mabel was defending Dipper in a way he only saw in himself defending Ann, several years ago. Aaron turned back to his wife in response to such bad nostalgia. She looked sad, and trying to not feel disappointed.

_Oh right Man, you can’t escape this anymore._

There was a long pause. Neither Mabel tried to make him to answer, now he said a word. She looked like the entire situation was dismantling itself. Aaron closed his eyes and sighed deeply, to just after turn to see his daughter.

“Give me a moment” He said in soft voice, and walked upstairs.

Aaron went upstairs, and walked to the entrance of Mabel’s dorm. He held the latch and tried to open the door, but it was locked. But that wasn’t seemingly a problem for him, because he could clearly hear his son’s continuous sobs. Dipper was recharged in the other side of the door. Sure, he hadn’t noticed Aaron’s attempt to open the door; so the only he had to do was to talk. Aaron breathed deep, and made four knocks. Suddenly the sobs stopped, and he heard a noisy sniff. Dipper wanted to listen.

“Dipper?” Aaron asked, but there was no response. “Dipper, it’s me. Open the door; I want to talk with you”. Again, there was no response, just silence. Aaron passed his hand across his face; that was how he had to do it. “Ok, ok, I totally understand, so… I’ll sit here; you haven’t to say anything, right?”

Aaron sat over the floor, recharging his back on the door. He thought for a moment in how he should begin. Logic wasn’t going to help; when Dipper was really sad, his analytic part simply stuck. And Aaron knew that just say he was sad, wasn’t even scratching the surface. Forcefully, he had to rely on the thing he avoided most: His relationship with Mabel.

“I - I bet you two had a very nice date” Aaron said. “I remember when I and your mother used to hang out at the bay. Those were good times… Yeah, those were good, indeed”

He heard Dipper to sniff again behind the door, so he had to believe he was listening.

“And then you and Mabel came! You can’t imagine the feeling of having you in my arms. You were just so… gorgeous” Aaron kept saying. “You… You were so close to not make it when you born. When I was told you were going to be fine I – I promised to not let anything to happen to you. But it seems that sometimes you need to keep your own promises in check” Aaron said, looking away.

Now there was silence. Total silence. Aaron had to trust he was listening more than ever.

“Dipper… Dipper I’m sorry. I would say that I just had to choose another words but – I – I won’t lie to you. Some part of me really wanted to say that” He finally accepted. “I try, son. I try to accept what is between you and your sister as much as I can… But,… Some tinny voice in my head tells me that this is my fault. It tells me that _this is hell and is wrong and I have to stop it_ … However I know in my heart that if I do it I would destroy you. That I would destroy Mabel as well”

Aaron stopped to take a deep breath. What was meant to be only an apologizing was indeed accomplishing its true purpose: unleash his true feelings.

“I remember the story. Every painful detail of how much you tried, and how much you and your sister suffered for that. Sometimes I think in how strong you two are… and sometimes you can’t teach new tricks to an old dog, you know?” He said, gasping a weak laugh. “And that’s ok. I’m meant to endure, that’s what parents do. It took me years to know your mother in all her marvelous and sometimes hateful details; I can’t even begin to imagine how’s to fall in love with the one you’ve met your entire life”

Aaron stopped again. He had to say it.

“So, I guess that I think I understand how bad it must feel the simple idea of be away from her, to not be with her when she needs you, or when you need her. Then the best I can do is to make you know that no matter what will happen with you or how far this will go,… I’ll accept it”

Aaron didn’t gave account of when Dipper opened the door, and barely registered when he turned to see in the moment he heard the door cracking and he saw his son crawling in his direction, but now Dipper was between his arms, crying. The sadness he poured was unmeasurable, but Aaron wanted to hold it. This was the moment that definitively signed his acceptance, without masking conditions, without pretended braveness; only a father, making his son to feel safe about his feelings with that strange circumstance of life.

“I love her!” Dipper said between his sobs, blurred by his father’s shirt fabric. “I – I just love her”

“I know, son” Aaron replied softly. “I know”.He smiled; the voice, for once, was not there anymore.


	5. Relief

The next week marked the ending of the emotional roller-coaster for the Pines family. Such a drastic relief that night, had broken (most of) the unstopped awkwardness cycle that reigned in the house. Such a relief was not unnoticed; the twins spent more time in home, and Aaron returned to his usual activities, no longer afraid from his reality. The details were as weird as one could expect, but that didn’t stop them from be a lovable family anymore, as it always had been. Everyone was happy; a life like that, back into confidence, felt like the paradise.

But there was a bubbling idea inside Aaron’s mind he hadn’t stop of think; not a bad one at all, but one he felt he needed to take into action. No matter how good the things had come, she had still the need to compensate his wife for all the trouble; he _wanted_ to make her happy, beyond the boundaries of the routine; he wanted them to return, at least for a day, to a time before their children, when they were only them against the world.

So, he decided they could go to San Francisco.

At first Ann thought it was maybe a little far from her usual safety standards (the sole idea of purposely go to the core of a path of destruction made by radioactive gigantic animals was beyond her hunting experience), but then Aaron reminded her about a hotel they had wanted to go when they were young; a very fancy one. Now that the ratings of the city were literally squished, the hotel’s rates had lowered considerably. The enough for them to afford at least a single night. So, when he made the proposal in the way he did, how to resist such chance?

She really didn’t.

So, the afternoon of Friday, the Pines parents got out from home.

“… The emergency numbers are in the frig; remember, it will rain tomorrow so don’t let Waddles to sleep outside. Try to not order too much pizza, young people; We’re still in our healthy plan. And…” Ann stopped for a moment, trying to remember if she had forgotten something.

“Oh, come on Mom. We’ll be fine!” Mabel replied enthusiastically. “You and Dad will go into a trip to the last target of a giant monster to live a kids-free adventure of romance beyond imagination!… And ya’ll enjoy it” Mabel said, squishing her mother’s shoulders and extending her arm at the airs with a raspy voice of determination.

“Com’ on Mabes. You’ll scare them” Dipper said from the frame door, trying to sound nonchalant.

“We’re not that far kids” Ann replied with unamused expression. “But seriously kids; we’re not that far, if anything happens…”

“We’ll call you” Both replied at the same time.

“Those are my babies” Ann said with joy, kissing each one’s forehead before to turn back to the car.

“We’ll see you at Sunday!” Aaron yelled from the car as Ann went inside.

“Kay, Dad, Bye!!” Mabel yelled back

“Take care!” Dipper yelled as well.

Then, the car departed, and the twins waved off their parents from the door. Until their car disappeared from sight. There was when the twins looked each other with conspiring grins.

“Well Mabes, ready for a night of low-budget movies and cavity-level doses of candies?” Dipper asked.

“I’ll bring the koala gummies” She replied, giving him a fast kiss and getting inside. Dipper remained at the door frame a few moments more, looking at the street.

_I really hope Dad to use the radiation detector…_

-

Back into those days, in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, go to San Francisco had become into a rare trip option. With the entire north of the city gradually swallowed inside a green jungle, and the menace to radiation exposure, the remaining economy survived basically because the loss were so high that the ones who remained, people and business, simply couldn’t afford to move from there. But quickly the thing became a little different. With the growing of the mysterious forest, crowds of tourist and environmental researchers came to the devastated city; even the Grunkles had made a brief landing there (Ford couldn’t resist the urges to learn a little of the titans, and Stan couldn’t resist the offer of the lowest hotel bills in the entire country; not at least since his favorite city in the world had been squished by the female MUTO). But eventually, even when the strange radiation proved to not be harmful to human life, people moved. Some ones had lost their loved ones, so stay there was just too painful for them. Others saw their homes and workplaces literally strangled by trees. Others more, simply didn’t want to have to endure the duties of the city. So the priorities of the city moved. Now the most important economic push was the eco-tourism; it wasn’t enough, but it was something from which they could start. After all, after having endured earthquakes and fires, and every kinds of social convulsions, some titans in the way weren’t going to stop them. As much as the Pines, the city of San Francisco was not going to give up…

_IN THE MEMORY OF THE LOVED ONES WE LOST, AND THE SAVIOR OF OUR CITY._

“Well, this gives us a plenty of perspective” Aaron said, looking at the metal plate bellow a ten-foot Godzilla’s bronze statue. Ann laid her head over his shoulder, hugging his right arm. It was a very solemn moment for them, for several reasons.

A wide crooked sidewalk, fenced with a high line of metallic posts, separated the city from the former zone of devastation. Behind the fence, a jungle of high trees of all sizes and shapes arouse high and green, some of them creeping over the remains of the fallen buildings and slowly covering them. The echoes of thousands of little birds which now were living there were muted by the hissing of the leaves of the jungle’s trees, shook by the gentle breeze coming from the gray, cloudy sky of the morning. One of the most important touristic attractions of this new San Francisco was the sidewalk, which hundreds of people at day crossed. So, Aaron and Ann woke up early to enjoy of a little of relieving silence, to remember the times in which that place could have been their home. At the sides of Godzilla’s statue, there were dozens of letters of colored paper wrote to the lost loved ones, or thanking Godzilla for saving the city. Much like the fallen gorgon of a Greek statue, the slain bodies of the MUTOs were sculpted at the titan’s feet.

There were also some photos in the way, of the people who died that tragic night. Aaron and Ann looked at them for a moment, not giving enough word for the respect they felt.

_Elizabeth Esparza; Wang Fu-Chang; Andrew Russell; Troy Wilkinson; Anna Rogers; Meredith Zimmerman; Sanjay Chapprat; Gregory Jones…_

“Do you remember when we tried to rent in that apartment?” Aaron asked, pointing at the half-fallen building at the left.

“Yes. The renter told us to consider in living in the other side of the city, in a ‘more affordable’ zone” Ann replied with irony. “We were so close to being at the wrong place in the wrong moment…”

“Well, sure we reached a more affordable zone to live right now” Aaron said, and both laughed. “But I admit I couldn’t mind to wake up and see this place every morning”

“Yes, it is beautiful. A little bit of apocalyptic, but beautiful anyway” Ann reassured. In silence, hey remembered when they were a young and hopeful couple of newlyweds, traveling across the country in search of fortune. Whoever could see them now, couldn’t believe that the usually calm and humble Pines parents were once as adventurous and carefree as their children were now. Apparently, something in the Pines’ blood was naturally prone to the adventure. It was in that time when Aaron picked a temporary job in Piedmont, and subsequent changes in their lives (including two lovely babies) made them to settle in the apparently boring and calmed place to give a turnaround to their lives. Suddenly, Ann noticed that Aaron had kept silent a too long time.

“What are you thinking on?” Ann asked in soft voice.

“It’s just… Look at us. We were at nothing from be there. How can ignore so blatantly how lucky we are? It is like if we suddenly think everything we got will stay. We have even the luxury of waste our time in pointless deeds and ignore or despise what doesn’t is of our understanding” Aaron said, giving a long, deep breath. Even when she wasn’t seeing his face, Ann knew he was sad.

“Do you still feeling guilty?” Ann asked in an apologetic tone.

“A little. It hurts how much you can be a jerk when you’re not aware of how little you are; how… how easy you can go” Aaron replied with a low and sad tone. “It makes you to ask yourself how you’re living, and what you believe is right or wrong…”

“We weren’t prepared Aaron” Ann interrupted him. “Before that night I didn’t even have specifics about the subject. We never discussed the chance; we only knew what… what…”

“What we’ve been told about in very scarce and scandalous ways?” Aaron appointed. Ann chuckled.

“Yes. Very _very_ scandalous ways. I can say” Ann said. “You know? We should feel lucky” She inquired. “We have the chance to experience those questions and having been stopped before to do something stupid. We… we are wiser than before, don’t you think?”

“Yes. I guess we are” Aaron said. “We know now that there’s a whole world of strange things in so many levels… Do… Do you think we’re using well our chance to do things right?” He asked with some concern.

There was a buzzing In Ann’s pocket, and Ann took her cellphone to see; Mabel had sent a message.

‘DEAR MOM, HERE A NEAT RESTAURANT YOU TO GO. HAVE FUN. KISSES KISSES, MAB.’

Ann took back her phone, recharged herself over his husband’s shoulder more comfortably, and smiled at the majestic metallic replica of Godzilla.

“Yes. I think we are” Ann exclaimed with pride.


	6. Acceptance

Finally, the graduation day came, in a windy, but sunny day. The tiny clouds in the skies reunited in the same rate as the noisy crowds bellow them were coming at the school’s stadium where the scenario had been settled. Some certain vibe of that special day was pouring certain feeling, that some of the assistants weren’t aware of, but some of them felt it in a way they couldn’t express with words.

“Are you ready for this?” Ann asked, seeing the nervous movements of his husband over the chair.

“Yeah yeah, it’s just… I really hate this goddamn chairs” Aaron replied with humor, getting serious just after. “It is curious. Some part of me wants them to stay. But the other one wants them to go far and live like we did. Annoying dad feelings” He groaned hilarious.

“Yes, I feel the same. But” Ann began to say, recharging over his husband’s shoulder “how many parents can feel sure for their children in the way we feel?” She reassured. “I just feel so happy for them. It is that weird?”.

Aaron rolled his eyes in her wife’s direction, and smiled. “Nah, In fact I feel the same. They’ll do it great, just as we did”

“I know –Hey! There’s Aiden” She exclaimed, arising her head as they saw Aiden walking towards the podium…

-

_You can do this, boy. Brin’ it on!_

Aiden walked towards the podium, with his shaking hands holding thigh the heavy, supposedly meaningful discourse that Dipper had helped him to craft. Actually, it was just a bunch of scribbles about potential things he could say. At the end, both had agreed that anything they could dare to settle could be too trivial to be true to Aiden’s true feelings towards their graduation. So he stood in front of the podium for a moment, at the mercy of whatever his heard could feel in that moment, and an itchy feeling below his blue, squared hat. For a single moment, he looked at the people he met among the formless crowd, and pondered about.

At some place of the front lines, there were his parents, looking at him with heightened pride’; something of that, maybe too exaggerated, made him to feel sick.

_Is that the flat feeling they’re feeling for me after all? How’s that possible?!_

Then he looked at his uncle at his aunt, whose were sit along his parents. His cousin, Meredith, had died in the battle of San Francisco. They had never been too close, but he felt pity for his aunt and uncle anyway. For them, as he distinguished in their tearful smiles, that event his own parents were feeling with disheartened pride meant something completely different. It meant what could have been, what they never could have. Meredith could have died anyway, but that was something Aiden would never tell them, and some part of that was making him to feel hurt.

_Be strong, for her._

Then his eyes rolled straight to Aaron and Ann. Their glance was so different from his own parents’, it really felt like they were hoping for him to go forward. His first adult friends of his adult life; destiny had been capricious.

_Here we go, wish me luck._

He made a quickly look to Ellen, and her flirty smile and thumbs up. That had happened so quick he couldn’t ever still believe it. He had moved on, and found her, even in the middle of those odd circumstances, and being conscious that she wasn’t meant to be, at least based in what he remembered; destiny had given a gift for his effort, but he felt that she was much more than that.

_Hold on, cranky girlfriend, I’m still thinking._

And then, just then, he looked at the twins. They looked amused, expectant, smiley supportive. Even with the distance, he noticed they were holding hands below the sight of everyone else, and his mind drove away. They had been so close to not make it; he had seen them to not make it, and seen their dead bodies to be engulfed in the flares of a gallifreyan funerary pyre. Seeing them now, living and unsuspecting of how lucky they were, and how lucky they were going to be, took a tiny but relieving tear out of his eye.

_I’ve found my feelings._

Aiden looked at the papers a last time, and threw them at the airs. There was as simultaneous gasp from the multitude’s part, and just after he closed the microphone to his mouth.

“Oh right, I want to ask you something first. What this day means for you? The closing of a cycle? The doors to the adulthood? Something like “Oh my gosh, I can get rid of this annoying children for once?” He said, causing a brief laugh among the parents. “Because… because I don’t want to celebrate this. This is just an academic achievement, I don’t want to make an illusion of success or economic greatness, or whatever that trash could be” Aiden inquired in severe tune, and the crowd got silent. “If you are thinking outside from our feelings or your own feelings towards this day please leave this place now; because you’re insulting us, and insulting people whose faces you’ll never see, but whose effort was meant to be something more than that” Aiden reassured, his tone getting cracked and angry. “Some of us remember the disaster; some of us lost loved ones, very close to us, that terrible night. But that night, even when I didn’t live it, it taught me two important things. First one: Life is greater, much greater than any of our expectations can really make us to imagine. One day we feel the kings of the world working for an office and the next one said office is tore down by a giant monster! I know many of us can be hating him. But Nature doesn’t care about our plans. We are the ones who must care about others, to be brave, to endure. Bad things happen, but not necessarily for case of someone. Sometimes things will just happen, and the only we can do is to go along with it” Aiden said with fierce and determinate tone.

His heart felt burning in power, at the astonished masses he was talking about. He took a brief breath. Before to talk again “The second thing I learned was that no matter what happens, it always can have a good ending. Don’t be afraid of your mistakes; don’t be afraid of the bad things that happen or the adversities or whatever, you can never know if the hard things can drive you to a better destiny. Right now there’s a whole forest growing in San Fransisco; Life never takes away from us more than it can give us back. In my personal experience, some time ago, a… a friend of mine discovered something frightful, something… that couldn’t handle. Just say that that thing redefined my friend’s prospects of life could underestimate the reality. And as I saw, it didn’t matter how wrong or insane or weird it could look like, my friend was brave, was sincere, and now that weird thing is – no matter how hard is for me to see it sometimes –“ he interrupted himself with a brief chuckle “that thing is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in my life, and I feel blessed for be aware of that in a world that’s not ready for so much power”.

Aiden’s mind drove to the right words to his closure, and he smiled. “An old man told me, one day I felt bad, some basic rules, that I thing will help us in the path we’re going to follow. Love hard. Run fast. Be kind. Piedmont High…” He stopped for a moment, looking at the crowd “I let you go”

The crowd arose from the chairs all at once, and the applause was massive. Aiden walked away, letting the principal to take the microphone, not looking back at the applause, only to his place among his loved ones, the only place in the world he wanted to be…


	7. Closure

Much as Ann had promised, the bank was a good spot in the park. One of the best, if he could recall correctly the last time he was there. A constant shadow covered him, and the soft breeze of Autumn felt oddly alive from his perspective. He was very lucky for have the park as close as his work how the resting time allowed him to reach the place in time; the first months without their children had turned out to be surprisingly boring, and this was an important change of the routine (actually not a big one, but it was enough for him).

A constant though was keeping his mind occupied while his wife hadn’t come yet. From the far, he glimpsed a happy couple having a picnic in the sunny part of the grass. With enough imagination, due their big resemblance, he could think they were Dipper and Mabel. He could distinguish how the young woman, sit in the lap of the young man, laughed at the listening of an unknown joke, and the young man himself propelled his lips towards hers, sharing an uncomfortable, bit sincere kiss. He smiled. Someday, they could have the chance of have days like that, free from the boundaries of their time, and that filled him with pride.

“Hey there, husband of mine!” His wife’s high greeting distracted him from his thoughts. Aaron turned to see, noticing the basked she had between her hands, and received his wife with a kiss, still seated over the bank.

“Hi, Ann” Aaron said back. “I was getting afraid for you to not come”

“And loss the last days of this beautiful place before the rain? Don’t count on that, Sweetheart” She exclaimed with pride. “Besides, I made enough sandwiches for all of us, you don’t want to waste them”

“Hi!” Both heard, coming from the left, and turned to see, catching Aiden with a box of sodas in his left hand, walking in their direction.

“Aiden! You came” Ann exclaimed.

“Of course I did, Mrs. Pines. A man must have habits” Aiden said, as he sat along Ann. “Glad to see you here, Mr. Pines” Aiden saluted Aaron.

“Hi, Aiden. Curious to you to mention it; I was here to break the routine” Aaron said with an ironic tone.

“You can always make a new one. I’m glad for the college’s schedule to allow me to keep the chance to come here” Aiden pointed.

“How do you feel with having stayed here?” Aaron asked. Aiden put the box of sodas in his lap, and recharged his arms.

“… Thaaaat living out of Mom and Dad’s house doesn’t have that charm, mr. Pines” Aiden pointed with humor.

“Oh, com’ on Aiden. We’re friends now, you can call us by our names” Ann said to him in a friendly tone, as she handled him and his husband a sandwich.

“It feels kinda weirds, but I’ll try it, _Ann_ ” Aiden struggled to say it. “Ohh gosh, it feels as weird as I thought” Aiden said with a faked disgust expression. Aaron laughed hard, as Aiden gave him and Ann a soda for each one.

“Welcome to the adult life, Aiden. The only ones you’ll can’t call by their names are going to be your bosses and the newly met, _most_ of time” Aaron pointed with irony.

“As Mabel said once, _weird grownups_ ” Aiden said back, chuckling briefly.

“You don’t have the least idea, my boy” Ann replied “you don’t have the least idea”

“Knowing how hard was to convince him to go with us today, I can make myself an idea” Aiden answered, smiling at the distance.

The three laughed, and continued their friendly reunion. After all the trouble, all the tears and the effort, they could now rest. Life was now, a little more sweet.

_THE END…?_


End file.
